What kind of novel is Shi Shuo Xin Yu?

Shi Shuo Xin Yu, also known as Shi Yu, mainly records anecdotes and metaphysical words of celebrities in Wei and Jin Dynasties. It can also be said that it is a collection of stories recording the romantic life in Wei and Jin dynasties, and it is the masterpiece of "note novels" in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties in China.

Shi Shuo Xin Yu was compiled by a group of writers organized by Liu Yiqing, the imperial clan of Liu and Song Dynasties in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, with Liu Jun as a note in the Liang Dynasty. The original book has eight volumes, and Liu Jun notes ten volumes. The current biographies are all three volumes, which are divided into 36 subjects such as morality, speech, politics, literature, founder and elegance. There are more than 1,000 volumes in the book, which describe the anecdotes of celebrities and nobles from the end of Han Dynasty to Liu Song Dynasty, mainly for the discussion of relevant figures, metaphysics and resourceful stories.

Shi Shuo Xin Yu is an excellent historical material to study the romantic life in Wei and Jin Dynasties. Among them, there are vivid descriptions of the activities of celebrities in Wei and Jin Dynasties, such as beautiful speech, commenting on topics, and various personality characteristics, such as comfortable life, noble birth, simplicity and arrogance, pursuit of life and wide hobbies. Throughout the book, we can get the group image of several generations of scholars in Wei and Jin Dynasties. Through these characters, we can further understand the fashion of the upper class in that era.